Bender Heaven

34 35 Fire shelter protection from the elements Another tried and tested method of keeping the rain off your fire is the fire shelter. With an extra tarpaulin, a few bits of rope and a few sticks, the world again is your oyster. Unless you have rip stop, make sure your tarp is an old one, as stringing it out between trees will quickly loosen the weave, turning your waterproof covering into a teabag in no time at all. Tilting your tarp into the wind will provide shelter, but a flow through of air is necessary to prevent the smoke from pooling. Again, if you use a central pole its best not to have the pitch too high or youll end up with a kipper factory. The height of your kitchen shelter depends not only on the passage of smoke but the size of your fire for obvious reasons. If you use poles for the centre or edges of a shelter of this type its always worth burying the base of the pole 6 inches or more into the ground especially if its not secured at the top, otherwise the wind will at some point puff the tarp out and your falling pole will invariably boff someone on the head. With poles used as props in this manner, an old Tshirt can be wrapped around the top and tied on, to prevent the pole damaging your tarp if a wind picks up. Finally, its best to avoid the temptation to attach one corner of your fire shelter to your free standing bender as its not designed to take that sort of strain and more likely than not it will slowly change shape to compensate. Use available tying points and a few stout poles to suspend your fire shelter, judging the height by the size of your intended fire.